Christians see church differently this Easter
We should show a little faith in science and stay-at-home orders
A Hammond church was ticketed by police on Palm Sunday for allowing more than 30 congregants to publicly gather in defiance of Gov. Eric Holcomb’s executive order.
Will this church, and other Christian places of worship, continue to defy the executive order on the holiest of days, Easter Sunday? Police in some communities plan to conduct spot checks on places of worship if they suspect gatherings larger than 10 parishioners.
“The purpose of this guidance is not to restrict religious liberty, but to save lives during these extraordinary times,” Holcomb said Thursday in his updated “guidance” for faith institutions in an effort to slow the spread of COVID-19. “To continue safely serving their communities… church buildings and other physical locations for worship should be closed.”
End of discussion from the government’s point of view. But what about from the believer’s perspective? This conflict of conscience prompts a biblical question that is again timely, during this deadly plague: Should Christians obey God’s law or man’s law?
“Can I choose one or the other?” a Christian friend of mine
asked rhetorically.
He wasn’t the only person of faith to ask this question or challenge the executive order for social distancing in public places.
“Social distancing is NOT the will of God,” a Gary church pastor wrote on Facebook last week. “It is merely the world’s REACTION to fear. We are not afraid of the virus!”
The pastor’s emphatic reaction provoked me to question how far this sort of religious belief should be carried out in the middle of a public health emergency.
If you’re convinced you’ll someday ascend to heaven — strictly through faith, not science — I can sincerely appreciate your insistence on continuing to congregate physically with each other on Easter Sunday. I don’t agree with your reasoning, but I understand it.
Prayers are more powerful than prevention, you may believe. Scripture is more protective than social distancing. Obeying God is more fundamental to your beliefs than obeying a governmental order. You should live your faith openly, like Jesus, even if you get crucified in public for doing it. I admire such devotion to a deity.
What I question is how this religious fervor will affect others in that church, especially those members whose health may be vulnerable to the COVID-19 virus. Are they as “devoted” as their pastors?
“First and foremost, I respect the freedom of religion that we have in this country,” said Jeremy Yancey, a church member at Van Buren Missionary Baptist in Gary.
“However, if faith-based leaders who clamor to have influence in communities and local governments can’t or won’t put the safety of their congregations ahead of tithes and offerings, then we as a community need to reevaluate some of the shepherds leading the flocks,” he posted on his Facebook page.
He was directing his point toward a megachurch in his city, Embassies of Christ on Cleveland Street, whose pastor, Joyce Oliver, publicly petitioned against Holcomb’s order.
“Please confess that the world’s shutdown will be lifted before Resurrection Sunday,” Oliver posted on social media. “That the disease will be abated and people affected are healed. Please confess, ‘Open Doors!’”
Will open church doors Sunday lead to filled hospital beds afterward, just as the peak of COVID-19 is expected to hit this coming week in Northwest Indiana?
That Gary megachurch not the only one in our region that is calling for “open doors” on Easter Sunday. I’m guessing others will also be open to obey God’s laws, not the governor’s executive order.
At least a dozen states’ churches are exempt from stay-at-home orders implemented by government leaders. Religious institutions have traditionally been protected from such regulations by the First Amendment’s decree regarding separation of church and state.
However, I’m in full support of public officials banning in-person worshiping services during a public health pandemic. Pastors’ allegations that their religious freedom is being infringed upon during this emergency are unfounded and over exaggerated.
Civil disobedience isn’t what’s needed at this time. Civic cognizance is what should be applied. The states’ executive orders are not about punishment against any church. These are protective measures for the greater good in every community. It would be different if these mandates continued after the COVID-19 pandemic fades.
“During this time of uncertainty, faith is more important than ever,” Holcomb said Thursday. “I look forward to the day where we can once again worship side-by-side without the threat of spreading coronavirus.”
This is the smart, rational attitude toward this crisis, outlined in Holcomb’s executive order, found online at www.in.gov/gov/ 2384.htm.
It’s simply unfortunate timing that social distancing orders happen to span into the Easter holy day, not on Halloween. This is not Satan’s handiwork. This is not a conspiracy theory in progress. And this is not God’s way of “cleansing humanity” from hell-bent nonbelievers, as some religious fanatics have insisted.
There is biblical Scripture on both sides of this debate, of course, as with any issue.
Supporters of the government order cite Romans 13: 1-3 states, “Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God.”
Critics cite Hebrews 10:25: “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.”
I see the day approaching when this current plague is over and churches can again open their doors to large crowds. On this Easter, we should show a little faith in science. Let’s distance ourselves from fanatical extremism.